First off, this forum has been such a big help and I cannot thank everyone enough.A brief history. We inherited this pool when we bought the house. I have been struggling with chemical balance since. The pool gets sunlight from about 8 am to 7 pm every day nonstop unless a cloud blocks it. I would say the average temp of the water is between 72 and 76. Last year we had black algae 2 times and the pool was rarely clear. I spent a ton of money on chemicals and at the end of the year I found this forum.
This will be long but I will try to keep it short. Also I know that some of the chemicals I am using is not to the experts advice but I am trying to use up what I have and I certainly plan to move forward with the advised methods.
8 days ago I had test strips that I was using to test and it showed that in 1 day my FC went from 3-4 to 0. I ended up shocking the pool figuring the problem was either no CYA or bad test strips. So to avoid algae I chose to shock hoping to be on the safe side. Water temp about 72.
7 days ago I took the water to a local store and they confirmed that my FC was 8 and my CYA was 0. They suggested adding 10 lbs of CYA. I am using a puck floater with (3) 3" pucks full open figuring that would boost the CYA so I only added an additional 4 lbs of CYA to my filter. My filter has been running 24/7 ever since. Water temp about 72.
3 days ago I noticed a filmy look across the top of the pool. My test strips showed everything was fine except my CYA was still low. It didn't seem right. I feared algae so I shocked again. Again filter continued to run. Water temp about 72. At this point the family has not stepped into the pool. I ordered a real test kit to get some accurate readings from home.
2 days ago I went back to the pool store for water testing.
The results were:
FC: 10
TC: 10
pH:7.5
TA: 130
CH:225
CYA: 30
I had decided to allow the chlorine to take care of itself so I did nothing but removed the floater. Water temp about 72.
Today I tried again. We took it to a pool store because my testing stuff should arrive tomorrow. The results have me puzzled. The pool water is about 76.
FC: 2.9
TC: 5.2
pH:7.7
TA: 160
CH:225
CYA: 60
The store is telling me that everything is ok except I should decrease the pH?? Using the Chlorine/CYA chart here I disagree. I would think my FC is way low. Am I correct? The other problem I am seeing is my TC makes no sense is that true? I decided since I didn't trust the readings I went to a different pool store 20 miles away. Their results weren't even close to the same
FC: 3.8
TC: 4.0
pH:7.9
TA: 117
CH:120
CYA: 35
This one seems closer to making sense to me. The water also looks and feels more like these numbers if that makes sense. At this point I have no idea who and what to trust. We will be going away for a few days on Tuesday and I am hoping the pool survives it. I added the floater again thinking that if the CYA and chlorine goes a little high during the trip it would help.
So my questions are:
Do you think the water is safe to swim in?
Do you think the numbers make sense?
If not what do you think it wrong?
I believe I read that anything more that an FC drop of .5-1 ppm per day means something is wrong. That is why I am thinking it is out of control. I seem to have an excessive drop but I don't know why. Any thoughts?
Should I boost the chlorine really high during the trip hoping it would be ok?
Some pictures of the pool as of now
Thank you for everything
This will be long but I will try to keep it short. Also I know that some of the chemicals I am using is not to the experts advice but I am trying to use up what I have and I certainly plan to move forward with the advised methods.
8 days ago I had test strips that I was using to test and it showed that in 1 day my FC went from 3-4 to 0. I ended up shocking the pool figuring the problem was either no CYA or bad test strips. So to avoid algae I chose to shock hoping to be on the safe side. Water temp about 72.
7 days ago I took the water to a local store and they confirmed that my FC was 8 and my CYA was 0. They suggested adding 10 lbs of CYA. I am using a puck floater with (3) 3" pucks full open figuring that would boost the CYA so I only added an additional 4 lbs of CYA to my filter. My filter has been running 24/7 ever since. Water temp about 72.
3 days ago I noticed a filmy look across the top of the pool. My test strips showed everything was fine except my CYA was still low. It didn't seem right. I feared algae so I shocked again. Again filter continued to run. Water temp about 72. At this point the family has not stepped into the pool. I ordered a real test kit to get some accurate readings from home.
2 days ago I went back to the pool store for water testing.
The results were:
FC: 10
TC: 10
pH:7.5
TA: 130
CH:225
CYA: 30
I had decided to allow the chlorine to take care of itself so I did nothing but removed the floater. Water temp about 72.
Today I tried again. We took it to a pool store because my testing stuff should arrive tomorrow. The results have me puzzled. The pool water is about 76.
FC: 2.9
TC: 5.2
pH:7.7
TA: 160
CH:225
CYA: 60
The store is telling me that everything is ok except I should decrease the pH?? Using the Chlorine/CYA chart here I disagree. I would think my FC is way low. Am I correct? The other problem I am seeing is my TC makes no sense is that true? I decided since I didn't trust the readings I went to a different pool store 20 miles away. Their results weren't even close to the same
FC: 3.8
TC: 4.0
pH:7.9
TA: 117
CH:120
CYA: 35
This one seems closer to making sense to me. The water also looks and feels more like these numbers if that makes sense. At this point I have no idea who and what to trust. We will be going away for a few days on Tuesday and I am hoping the pool survives it. I added the floater again thinking that if the CYA and chlorine goes a little high during the trip it would help.
So my questions are:
Do you think the water is safe to swim in?
Do you think the numbers make sense?
If not what do you think it wrong?
I believe I read that anything more that an FC drop of .5-1 ppm per day means something is wrong. That is why I am thinking it is out of control. I seem to have an excessive drop but I don't know why. Any thoughts?
Should I boost the chlorine really high during the trip hoping it would be ok?
Some pictures of the pool as of now
Thank you for everything
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